Variant House Rule: 40-Minute Malifaux

[nilus]

For some masters, there are required models like the Dreamer who needs to spend at least 4 stones for 2 daydreams.

Well Post errata a lot of people are debating even taking Daydreams, so it might not be so bad.

[TedPro]

Try 10 soulstones before you abandon the idea, folks!

It actually does work out pretty well, at least so far.

Escape and Survive was one that I considered, except you'd need to change the distances to match a 2' x 2' board.

[LordZombie]

Ok, so I got my buddy to try this out and here is how it went.
Guild VS Resurrectionist.
Guild had Lady Justice, Guild Gaurd Captain, and Drill Sgt.
Resurrectionist had McMourning, 2 night terror, crooked man.
Guild had Slaughter strategy, Round up and Lay these souls to rest schemes.
Resurrectionist had Claim Jump strategy, Army of the dead scheme. (dropped second for soul stones)
Battlefield was indoors using some map tiles I had of a house.
Outcome- Resurrectionist win. 3pts to 0pts. Total time was about 50 minutes, but this includes me still running the rest of gaming with questions and the first time using night terrors and crooked man.
Highlight of the game-Guild guard captain steps too close to a shafted counter and flips a black joker.
Over all, very fun and didn't seem to lose the feel of Malifaux. Next time we will try outdoors.

[Sarsnick]

Well Post errata a lot of people are debating even taking Daydreams, so it might not be so bad.

Post-errata I think the need for Daydreams is even greater! You need more out-of-chain activations now, imo.

[TedPro]

Ok, so I got my buddy to try this out and here is how it went.

Awesome! Thanks!

Anything you'd change? Also, did Soulstones seem too abundant?

[LordZombie]

Awesome! Thanks!

Anything you'd change? Also, did Soulstones seem too abundant?

Nothing I myself would change except maybe change the strat to always be shared. At this level it would make the encounter feel a little more personal. Another guy in the group said something about upping the stones to 15 but I don't think that is needed. He made the same claim as others in the fact some masters need more points, but I say no. Playing at this level should just really be about testing yourself, your master, and the few minions you have. I will give it another try this Saturday and maybe post a battle report. As for the stones, I didn't think so. Maxing them out is kind of fun as it turns the master vs master into a real epic duel.

[SoulG]

Just go with the Dreamer + 6ss, that gives a Cache of 8 and really, does the Dreamer need anything else? That said, I'd echo trying it at 15ss. The goal for a short Malifaux game, in my mind, is 1hr or less from set-up to last turn.

Rather than changing the board size, you should consider just allowing players to place their models up to 8" from the deployment zone in the beginning (wording deliberate for interactions with strategies). This equates to a turn spent moving everything up with an average speed and allows for fast-paced, turn 1 action. This should also expand the number of strategies that don't break down on a 2' by 2' board.

One other thing I've found to speed up set-up is to actually section the board off into 9 (16 if using a 4' board) squares and making sure there's 2-3 pieces of terrain in each square. Once players have that guide the rest tends to come more easily.

The issue with limiting Schemes is that it unbalances play too much, IMO. Compare: Neverborn to Rezzer. Assuming the goal is an hour or less I'd just let people take the 5mins choosing their schemes.

I'm also not sure that avatars extend play terribly much, but I'd say that requires testing.

[TedPro]

SoulG, thanks for your feedback! I've tried 15ss games on a full board, and they're plenty fun.

My goal here is to make the game as short as possible while still feeling like you're playing Malifaux. Really, my goal is half an hour or less, but in my test this game was about 40 minutes.

Try the version I list here! I'd really like to hear if you felt the same way after playing one game with the rules I list above.